Sparr/Timberline wins championship

March 25, 2002|By MIKE DUNN

But Gary House, one of the small, speedy members of the Sparr squad, had a different idea. He scored on a rebound of a shot by teammate Kevin Foster with a mere three minutes left in the third period, flipping the puck just above the diving figure of Chocolat Haus goalie Bill Dehne to give his team a 4-3 lead.

Dave Bokas then sealed the victory and the 2001-02 league championship for Sparr with an empty net goal with only two seconds left to play.

The 5-3 triumph gave Sparr the satisfaction of winning all the marbles after finishing just fourth in the regular-season standings with a 13-10-3 record.

"We actually played pretty well all year, but we really started coming into our own near the end of the season," said team representative Jim Payne, who owns Timberline Logging, which is cosponsor of the team along with Sparr Sawmill. "We made a few switches on defense that helped. As a team, we started backchecking more and our goalie (Todd Harlukowicz) was doing a real good job. We had a lot of confidence coming into the playoffs."

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Victory was sweet on Wednesday night, but it wasn't easy. The win could just as easily have gone to Chocolat Haus in a tight, well-played game that featured some excellent individual efforts by both sides, including the play of Dehne in the nets for Chocolat Haus and Harlukowicz in goal for Sparr.

The lead seesawed back and forth throughout the game. Sparr led 2-1 after the first period, but Chocolat Haus scored two unanswered goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Chocolat Haus, with dangerous goal-scorers Tom Kirk and John Clement at forward and steady Bruce Brown on defense, was playing well and seemed to have the momentum going into the third period.

Early in the final period, savvy Sparr defender Mike Nixon flipped the puck out of play just in time to prevent hard-charging Patrick Musina of Chocolat Haus from having a clean breakaway and a chance to increase his team's lead.

In the minutes that followed, Dehne deftly turned away two excellent scoring chances by Sparr - one on a breakaway by Bokas and the other on a low wrist shot by Foster - to enable Chocolat Haus to maintain its 3-2 advantage.

But midway through the period, Nixon finally got one past Dehne to tie the score. Nixon moved from end to end on the play, using a sweet move to break free of a defender near the blue line before sending one home to make the score 3-3.

Chocolat Haus intensified its attack after that, but this time it was Harlukowicz who was turning away scoring chances. Harlukowicz's best save of the third period came on a hard, low shot from in close by Clement. The puck rebounded in front off of the goalie's pads, but House was in perfect position to knock the puck away from the crease before a Chocolat Haus player could get to it.

And then, with the game clock tolling off the final minutes and overtime looking like a distinct possibility, Foster made a steal in the neutral zone and broke in clean on Dehne, with House trailing.

Dehne stoned Foster, but was unable to control the puck. It bounced in front just as House came cruising in. Dehne dove for it, but House arrived just ahead of him and flipped home the game-winner.

Sparr defenders Joe Bush, Corey Schram and Nixon did such a good job in the final minutes that Harlukowicz was not seriously tested again the rest of the way.

"This really feels good," Harlukowicz said afterwards. "I was a little worried when we were down, but we came back strong. This has been a great group to play with."

Harlukowicz, an electrician by day, had a solid 3.3 goals against average during the season. This was his fourth year of playing in the adult league, but his first year with a winning team.

"It's time to celebrate," he said wtih a smile as he skated off the ice.

Those who scored goals for Sparr in the title game, aside from House and Bokas, were Foster and Payne. Payne's goal was assisted by Schram and came on a hard, low shot from just outside the faceoff circle.

Payne launched his shot just before a hard collision with the hard-nosed Brown, one of the bigger Chocolat Haus defenders, sent him sprawling onto the ice. "It was worth it," Payne later said with a smile. "It's all part of the game."

Foster had two assists in addition to his goal. Bokas' goal was assisted by Payne and Kent Barden.

The Chocolat Haus goals were scored by Tim Gahan, Kirk and Clement. All three were unassisted.